Trump reportedly starts his days later because he wants more 'executive time' to watch TV and tweet

President Donald Trump has shrunk his daily schedule because he wanted more “executive time” to watch TV and tweet, the news site Axios reports.

He reportedly has three hours of “executive time” every morning and another few hours of it during the day.

That’s in addition to the time he spends watching cable news and going on Twitter every evening after retiring to the private residence.

President Donald Trump’s official daily schedule is getting shorter because he wants more time to watch cable news and go on Twitter, Axios reported Sunday.

Trump – who’s said in the past that he wakes up at 5 a.m. – now starts his days at 11 a.m. after taking three hours of “executive time” in the Oval Office, most of which he spends in his private residence watching TV and perusing Twitter, the report said.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Axios that Trump’s “executive time” in the morning “is a mix of residence time and Oval Office time but he always has calls with staff, Hill members, cabinet members and foreign leaders during this time.”

Trump’s media habits are well documented, from his voracious consumption of cable news to his tendency to fire off impulsive tweets when he’s displeased with the way he’s portrayed in the media. According to The New York Times, the only people allowed to touch the TV remote are Trump and the technical support staff. The Times said the president watches at least four – and up to eight – hours of TV daily.

That point was echoed by a Washington Post report published last April, which said Trump turns on the TV as soon as he wakes up, watches periodically throughout the day, and continues late into the evening when he retires to the private residence.

According to a copy of Trump’s private schedule that was shown to Axios, the president’s official days last from about 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and sometimes they end before that. He also takes some “executive time” in between, in addition to the three hours every morning.

On Tuesday, for instance, Trump’s day will last from 11 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Two hours and thirty minutes out of that day are devoted to “executive time.”

On Wednesday, in addition to the three hours of “executive time” he’ll have in the morning, Trump has an intelligence briefing at 11 a.m. and another three hours of “executive time” until a meeting with the Norwegian Prime Minister.

After his days end – around 4 p.m. on shorter days and 6 p.m. on longer days – Trump usually goes back to the residence and watches TV, makes phone calls, and goes on Twitter.

In the nascent stages of his presidency, Trump’s days would begin earlier and end later, but he reportedly didn’t like that schedule and pushed to start later and end earlier.

While aides told Axios that Trump is always busy, they added that he was harder to control once the day ended.

“Once he goes upstairs, there’s no managing him,” one White House aide told the Post last April.

Trump routinely watches a host of cable news networks, starting his mornings off with CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Fox Business Network’s “Mornings With Maria” which is hosted by Maria Bartiromo, and Fox News’s “Fox and Friends.” Trump has repeatedly praised “Fox and Friends” for its favourable coverage of him, while blasting networks like MSNBC and CNN for their more critical coverage of his administration and policies. He has called the latter “fake news” on a number of occasions, both in public and on Twitter.

At night, The Post’s report said, the president occasionally “hate-watches” cable news shows that are critical of him, sometimes talking on the phone with friends while doing so.

“The President is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen and puts in long hours and long days nearly every day of the week all year long,” Sanders said Sunday. “It has been noted by reporters many times that they wish he would slow down because they sometimes have trouble keeping up with him.”